Stove Info

[wizard]

Hi
We recently found a stove in our family storage and could use some help with some info. It is a 'Schooner' model, made by 'The Pot Belly Stove Company' of New Zealand. Does anyone have info or an address where we can get info about this stove?
Thanks

 

[thechimneysweep]

Hi Wizard,

The Schooner was an unusual cast iron wood/coal stove designed in New Zealand in 1977 and imported into the US by Carl English of Homestead Research, Inc. in Camas, WA for a brief period in the early '80's. It was a non-airtight design, with no incoming combustion air shutter, the only control being a butterfly damper built into the 4-1/2" flue collar (an adapter was included to connect to 6" stove pipe). The Schooner boasted a baffle-free "swirl combustion chamber" which was essentially an open dome-shaped space that extended above and in front of the flue outlet, topped by a removable cookplate. Despite the lack of a secondary baffle system, the manufacturer claimed "thermal efficiencies" of 72%-78%, depending upon the fuel used.

Shaped kind of like a flat-topped egg mounted on an oversized rectangular base with four ornate cast feet, the Schooner came in two pieces: the top simply fit down onto the base with no sealant or attaching mechanism (gravity works). Another interesting feature was expandability: round "extension rings" could be purchased to go between the top and bottom castings to make the stove taller and increase the fuel capacity.

The Schooner could be top loaded via the lift-off cook plate, or front loaded via a non-gasketed drop-down door. An always-open air slot above the door provided combustion air for secondary burn. A 3-piece shaker grate was standard, to facilitate coal burning.

The Schooner came in two versions: UL listed ($610.00 retail in 1981) and Unlisted ($559.00)

 

[wizard]

Thank you for the fast and informative answer to my post.